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Hey everyone! Thank you so much for reading! A quick intro. I’m a huge Infinity Engine enthusiast. Baldur’s Gate 2: SoA+ToB is pretty much my favorite game of all time (read best game of all time). Playing as a mage and blasting through everything like Irenicus on speed is probably the greatest feeling I can get from dancing pixels on a screen and I wanted to re-create that feeling in Pillars of Eternity. There have been plenty of posts on soloing the game, but the information is not standardized and consolidated. Also, there isn’t much for mages in the way of target gear and tips for expansion content. This guide aims to help with those issues. I’m sure plenty of people have some better ideas than what I’ve written. Please feel free to comment and I will update the guide as we progress. A few things that should be known before reading This is a NORMAL DIFFICULTY solo guide. Should work for hard mode as well. I’m hoping to make a TCS guide in the future. This is a completionist playthrough. All quests have been done (to my knowledge) and all battles have been fought. Both expansions have been cleared entirely. The only encounters that have been skipped are a few bounties that I couldn’t be bothered to do. They shouldn’t be too difficult at max level. This guide allows for picking your favorite race and lifestyle. I played through as an Aedyran Human. Obviously this isn’t ideal in any way, shape, or form. The most optimized race for this would be Wood Elf as their attribute bonuses (Dex & Per) are amazing for wizard and they get a ranged damage buff which benefits a blaster mage incredibly. The most optimal culture is really personal preference but I would go Rauatai for the much needed constitution bonus. This is a casual guide. I don’t care about the solo achievement so I randomly picked up followers to grab their quests and to throw them in my keep to work. That being said, every battle was fought solo and every quest was done solo. If you care about the achievement you can just simply not do this. Picking up followers here and there doesn’t really give you any advantage except a bit more money from keep adventures and a bit more experience from the follower quests. It’s pretty negligible in the grand scheme of things. You’ll be level capped in act 3/WM1 regardless. This guide is for a “blaster” type wizard. What’s the point of being a mage if you can’t nuke throngs of enemies? :D Be patient. Just like in the infinity engine games, the early levels as a wizard solo are a bit tough. You’ll have to rest a lot. It will pay off in the later levels when you’re blasting everything into oblivion. If you’re having too much trouble on one fight, come back to it later. The main plot quests (critical path) are easy as hell (bar white march 2) so you should be fine there. My advice is to leave the main plot for last and then blast through it when you’re insanely overqualified. It’s really fun seeing things melt. Have both expansions installed at all times. This will ensure that every experience point is used. Complete the entire vanilla game up until the point of no return (end of act 3). Before you jump into the pit for the final phase of the main plot, head over to complete expansion content. You’ll be level 14 (WM1 cap) by act 3 and level 16 (WM 2 cap) by early WM1. I never scale the difficulty when given the option. You should be rewarded for being prepared and overqualified, not penalized. My opinion of course. J Now that that’s done, without further ado, allow me to present the guide. I’ll update as I find more out. Race: Elf (Much needed bonus to Dex & Per) Sub-Race: Wood Elf (Amazing damage buff for ranged spells and shots) Culture: Rauatai (Much needed bonus to Con) Background: Aristocrat (Lore bonus will allow using powerful scrolls in early game) Attributes This is a blaster build and we are not intending on getting beaten down. Therefore, I’ve chosen to ditch resolve and constitution in favor of boosting the power and accuracy of our spells. Make sure you loot the barbarians in Cilant Lis and equip your hatchet and shield right away. It helps a ton. If you’re dying too much in the early game, you can take a point out of Perception and 2 out of Intelligence and pump them into constitution. You can respec later when you get tougher. Might: 18 Constitution: Dump Dexterity: 18 Perception: 17 Intelligence: 18 Resolve: Dump Skills Your endgame skills should look as below. They don’t have to be base, these include static buffs. For example my Aristocrat Bonus + Hylea’s Boon + Wizard Bonus gave me 5 Lore points, and I put 5 through level ups for a total of 10. You’ll want your lore to be 10 to use all useful scrolls including but not limited to Maelstrom, Paralysis, Confusion, Prayer Against Fear, etc. Mechanics is great for obvious reasons (detecting and removing traps, finding secret items, etc.). Stealth is pretty much optional (less so in the early game). Eventually you’ll be strong enough to not need to sneak around anymore. It’s still nice to have though for the purpose of getting the drop on harder trash mobs. Survival can also be useful for the campsite resting buffs, although you probably won’t need any for trash mobs. Don’t worry if you botch up the point spread. You can always respec and it’s more about personal preference anyway. Lore: 10 Mechanics: 10 Stealth: 8 Talents You’ll get a talent choice every second level. I like to keep them primarily defensive and utility based as your offensive capabilities will never be an issue. Arcane Veil + Hardened Veil is also very useful in the early game. If you’re having trouble surviving, you can take it and respec later. Level 2: Weapon & Shield Style Level 4: Fast Runner Level 6: Secrets of Rime Level 8: Superior Deflection Level 10: Deep Pockets Level 12: Bear’s Fortitude Level 14: Snake’s Reflexes Level 16: Bull’s Will Spells This pretty much covers every spell I used in the game. I’ll update if I forgot anything. More than 4 are listed in some levels, just switch them out as you need them. Level 2 is a trump card of amazing buffs and debuffs. I would only take Necrotic Lance in longer fights where you are in danger of running out of spells. Bewildering Spectacle is great until you get Confusion. Your end game trump card spells that make things melt are “Minoletta’s Precisely Piercing Burst”, “Kalakoth’s Freezing Rake” and the single target “Ninagauth’s Killing Bolt”. Ninagauth’s takes time to cast so make sure you’re not in danger before you cast it. Finish enemies off with “Minoletta’s Concussive Missiles” if you run out of powerful spells. I’ve put a star next to all of the absolute essential spells. Level 1 - Chill Fog * - Fan of Flames * - Eldritch Aim * - Arkmyr’s Dazzling Lights * Level 2 - Concelhaut’s Corrosive Siphon* - Curse of Blackened Sight - Miasma of Dull-Mindedness * - Bulwark Against The Elements * - Necrotic Lance - Bewildering Spectacle Level 3 - Lengrath’s Displaced Image* - Fireball - Deleterious Alacrity of Motion * - Expose Vulnerabilities Level 4 - Confusion * - Essential Phantom * - Ironskin * - Minoletta’s Concussive Missiles * - Wall of Flame Level 5 - Blast of Frost - Malignant Cloud * - Nanagauth’s Bitter Mooring * - Ryngrim’s Enervating Terror * - Wall of Force * Level 6 - Arkemyr’s Capricious Hex - Gaze of The Adragon - Minoletta’s Precisely Piercing Burst * - Ninagauth’s Freezing Pillar * Level 7 - Ninagauth’s Killing Bolt * - Wall of Draining - Substantial Phantom - Concelhaut’s Crushing Doom Level 8 - Wilting Wind - Llengrath’s Superior Elemental Bulwark * - Kalakoth’s Freezing Rake * - Minoletta’s Piercing Sigil Spell Mastery Unfortunately with the 3.0 patch, wizards got a massive nerf with the removal of per-encounter spell levels. This has raised massive quality of life issues for soloing as we can no longer ignore resting for the longer dungeons and quests in the game. The per-encounter spell levels have been replaced with “Spell Mastery”. Essentially at the level that you would normally get all spells in a certain spell level as per-encounter, you now only get to choose 1. By the level cap, you will have 4 per encounter spells castable only once/encounter. The spells I chose are essentially my main buffs and the best trash mob spell in our grimoire; Chill Fog. Spells are as follows: - Chill Fog - Bulwark Against The Elements - Llengrath’s Displaced Image - Eldritch Aim Pre-Fight Buffs Consumables Unlike in the infinity engine games, our spell buffs can only be used in battle. Apparently spell casters in Eora are on some kind of honor system. That being said, we can still acquire extremely powerful pre-fight buffs. These come in the form of consumables. There are all kinds of consumable buffs including food, drink, and drugs. I tend to stay away from drugs because they usually cause a debuff after the main buff expires. There is no need to use these consumables for trash mobs. You’ll only need them for boss fights and other major encounters. To use these consumables, simply click the crafting button in your inventory screen, and pick the desired dish. If you don’t have the ingredients, you can buy them in various marketplaces. Most food ingredients are fairly cheap (except dragon meat which will break your bank at 3000 gold/serving). Once the food is crafted, simply drag and drop it on to your character in the inventory screen and you will see the buff on your portrait when you return to the game screen. They usually last roughly few minutes. You should have a full stack of the following consumables for major encounters: - Dragon Meat Dish - Rauatai Sweet Pie - Farmer’s Spread - Ixamitl Ricepan - Pearlwood Chicken - Casita Casserole - Ale Resting Buffs In addition to your consumable buffs, you can also acquire a passive rest bonus by staying at inns or from your campfire if you have skill points in survival (they do not stack). Arguably the best rest bonus comes from a tavern in Dyrford Village called “Dracogen Inn”. The highest end room in this inn (Dragon’s Lair) grants a massive attribute boost (+2 Con, +2 Mig, +2 Int). Unfortunately it only lasts one day. For a longer 3-day bonus, your keep’s rest bonuses are excellent as well and let you choose a single attribute for a +3 buff. Make sure you upgrade your keep! Prostitute Bonus In Defiance Bay’s Ondra’s Gift district, you will find a tavern/brothel called “The Salty Mast”. It contains various prostitutes that confer great bonuses for their “services”. The greatest thing about the prostitute bonus is that it will stack with your inn/campsite bonus making for a great attribute buff. Obviously, you can only benefit from one prostitute’s buffs at a time. For even more good news and hilarity, if you have at least 19 dexterity (which should be easy with buffs or gear), the prostitutes will be so impressed with your performance in bed that they will give you back your money resulting in a free buff! There are great prostitutes for both major sexual preferences, listed below are the best of each gender. - Lyrina – Female Prostitute (+2 Con, +2 Mig, +1 Athletics) - Aldwyn – Male Prostitute (+2 Per, +2 Int, +1 Lore). Quick Slot Items Like most RPG’s of this nature, Pillars of Eternity allows you to put on-use or consumable items in your quick slot for use during battle. With the “Deep Pockets” talent, you’ll have 6 slots in total. Your standard layout should be: - 5 Scroll of Maelstrom - 5 Scroll of Paralysis - 5 Scroll of Prayer Against Fear - 5 Scroll of Prayer Against Imprisonment - 5 Endurance Potions - Obsidian Figurine You can change these as you need to. Some of the more difficult fights require certain approaches. You’ll want extra accuracy during any dragon fight so you can replace “prayer against imprisonment” with a “flask of war paint” for the great accuracy buff. Scrolls of Confusion are also indispensable for tricky fights. But this set-up should do you for the overwhelming majority of the game. In the early game you can switch out maelstrom and paralysis for more figurines as you won’t have high enough lore to use them yet. Best In Slot Gear & Enchantments This gear set up worked wonders for me. I made a point to explore every map and get every item (to my knowledge). The main point of your gear set up is to get as high a buff as you can on every major attribute and every major save. Usually the highest attribute buff is +3 until you hit White March. At that point you will begin to uncover +4 items. Keep in mind that many of these drops are random and certain items/enchantments are dependant on what you have equipped. For example, if your random belt drop was the +3 constitution belt, you won’t be putting a constitution enchantment on your chest armor. Gear buffs do not stack and you can only have 1 of every attribute. If I missed anything too good to ignore, please post and I will update. Until you get the items posted below, use anything you find following the rules above. For example, until you get the “Mantle of The Excavator”, a great alternative is “Lillith’s Shawl” found in the Lighthouse of Ondra’s Gift, Defiance Bay. You can check various sites with item databases to map out what you need. By the end of the game, I was wearing the following pieces: Gear Item: Garodh’s Chorus Slot: Helm Notable Stats: +3 Might, Retaliation (Variable depending on your choices during quest) Game: White March 1 Location: Reward from quest. You’ll need to gather the 3 parts of the helm from Russetwood, Stalwart Village, and Durgan’s Battery Main Floor. Item: Starlit Garb Slot: Chest (Robe) Notable Stats: DR: 9, +10 vs. Spells, +2 Athletics Game: Vanilla Location: Part of a quest in act 3. Robe can be found in a hidden stash in one of the dwellings in Elms Reach, Twin Elms. You’ll need to follow the quest until you get the map for it. Item: Ring of Protection Slot: Ring 1 Game: Vanilla Notable Stats: +9 to Fortitude, Reflex, and Will Location: Random drop in various locations. You can also buy them from one of the merchants in Copperlane, Defiance Bay. Item: Ring of Deflection Slot: Ring 2 Game: Vanilla Notable Stats: +9 Deflection Location: Same as above. Item: Boots of Speed Slot: Feet Game: Vanilla Notable Stats: +3 Movement Speed Location: Random drop in various locations. Item: Girdle of Eoten Constitution Slot: Waist Game: Vanilla Notable Stats: +3 Constitution Location: Random drop in various locations. Item: Mantle of The Excavator Slot: Cloak/Neck Game: White March 2 Notable Stats: +25 vs. Poison, +2 Survival, +4 Perception Location: West Tower, Durgan’s Battery Item: Bracers of Spiritual Power Slot: Gloves Game: Vanilla Notable Stats: +10% Spell Damage Location: Random drop in various locations Item: Hearth Harvest Slot: Weapon Game: Vanilla Notable Stats: +5 Deflection, +25% Burn Damage Location: Corpse in Woodend Plains Item: Little Savior Slot: Shield Game: Vanilla Notable Stats: +5 to all defenses, +50 Defense while stunned, +50 Defense while prone Location: Adra Dragon’s treasure horde. Enchantments You can enchant your weapon, shield, and chest armor. They should all have the highest quality enchant while still making room for the amazingly powerful “White Forge” enchant from White March 1. On your chest armor, the +2 attribute enchantment should be whatever you need based on what’s dropped. Remember to not overlap attribute bonuses, they don’t stack. Strategy & Rotation Positioning Proper positioning is absolutely imperative in solo play. Whenever possible, you must pick your battlefield. Some of the hardest fights in the game are the ones that plop you in the middle of a field surrounded by a bunch of strong enemies. The most ideal position is to bottleneck your opponents through any narrow space such as a doorway or a corner whereby only 1 or 2 of them will be able to hit you. In some of the trickier fights, this will be the difference between succeeding and dying. If there aren’t any good bottlenecks around just make sure your back is against a wall of some sort. If the enemy manages to get the flank debuff on you it will seriously effect your defenses. Trash Mob Rotation A “trash mob” is identified as any non-boss or major encounter fight. They’re essentially just the regular inept minions you fight in the wilderness or in dungeons. They’re mostly just fairly weak annoyances with the exception of perma-stun mobs like vampires and some ghosts. The White March 2 mobs are also pretty tough. You’ll have quite a time in the “Stalwart Mines”. That said, you could take out nearly every trash mob in the game with the following rotation: 1. Chill Fog (Make sure to cover as many enemies as possible) 2. Bulwark Against The Elements (Buff) 3. Llengrath’s Displaced Image (Buff) 4. Ironskin (Buff) 5. Eldritch Aim (Buff) 6. Concelhaut’s Corrosive Siphon (Again, hit as many as possible) 7. AoE mobs until dead (Use any area of effect spell) This is the full version of the rotation. Obviously you won’t need to go this crazy for most of the trash mobs. For example, in the early game you wont have access to Ironskin (level 4 spell) and you might not want to waste your few level 2 casts on buffs that aren’t needed. You also won’t need concelhaut’s regeneration because mobs won’t lay a finger on you when blinded by chill fog and you won’t need the accuracy bonus from eldritch aim. Therefore, you’ll be able to skip steps 2-5 and go right to nuking the enemy down with either Fan of Flames or Arcane Assault. Remember to cast Chill Fog in such a way that you are enveloped by the yellow part of the spell radius. This ensures that if enemies get behind you they will still be blinded and damaged by the spell. Concelhaut’s Corrosive Siphon will leech health from the enemy, which is great to have in any fight. Understanding the concept of divide and conquer is of pinnacle importance to success as a solo mage. Often times you will be surrounded by a group of powerful enemies. Confusion! Confusion! Confusion! While confused, the enemies will waste no time beating on each other while you cast buffs on yourself and blast them into oblivion. Have it in your spellbook as well as scrolls in your quick slot. This is huge for dragon fights as you can keep them friendly while you blast them to death. Make sure to buff your accuracy (Eldritch Aim/Flask of War Paint) and Miasma them first! Dragons have insane saves so even with your high perception you will miss constantly if you don’t buff yourself and debuff them. Extremely Difficult Fights These are a few encounters I had trouble with and how I ended up beating them. It goes without saying that you should be fully buffed for all of these fights (except the Eyeless and Cragholdt mobs, they’re just tough trash). Minoletta’s Burst, Ninagauth’s Killing Bolt and Kalakoth’s Freezing Rake are your end game can opener spells. They hit like a truck and can down the toughest bosses in the game quickly. The problem is surviving while you buff yourself, debuff them, and take care of their annoying minions. When in doubt, before you start blasting them, keep your enemies confused or paralyzed and make sure your accuracy is buffed (Eldritch Aim/Flask of War Paint) and they are debuffed (Miasma). For dragon fights add “ Scroll of Protection from Fear” to the mix as their terrify aura will cancel out your accuracy buff. Undead Raedric (Act 3: Vanilla) If you happened to put the psychotic lord of Gilded Vale down in act 1, you’ll be “thrilled” to know that you’ll see him again in act 3, freshly raised as a Vampire. If that isn’t bad enough, he’s got an entire coven of bloodsuckers backing him up. This fight puts Bodhi (Baldur’s Gate 2) to absolute shame. This guy is tough and hits like a truck. Make sure you run down the stairs and into a corner so they can’t flank you. Make liberal use of confuse. At this point you won’t have enough spells to take this walking corpse down so make sure you have some Maelstrom scrolls (if you can use them) or other AoE scrolls. If I remember correctly, they have a pretty significant cold resistance, so Freezing Pillar might not be as effective. Go with Minoletta’s Precisely Piercing Burst. Don’t waste it if they’re confused into friendliness, it’s a foe AoE. This quest gives an insane amount of EXP so make sure you do it! Adra Dragon (Od Nua Level 15, Caed Nua: Vanilla) The one and only “Master Below”, Adra Dragon is a seriously tough fight and you’ll probably have to load the game a bunch of times before offing her. There are a few strategies for dealing with this one. You can see them all being executed to perfection at MANoob100’s youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/MANoob100/videos?shelf_id=0&view=0&sort=dd My favorite method is the “Barrier Strategy”. Be sure that you talk the dragon into telling you about the dragon slayer that is after her. She will offer you a deal to leave your keep if you kill the slayer for her. After you tell the dragon slayer of her plans, you will be taught the “Scalebreaker” ability. This will do wonders for every dragon fight in the game. Go back to the dragon and prepare for a fight. Your rotation is as follows: - Run to the far left of the map - Cast energy barrier where the dragon will be coming - Essential Phantom - Prayer of Protection from Fear (on you and your phantom) - Llengrath’s Displaced Image - Eldritch Aim - Scalebreaker - Arkemyr’s Dazzling Lights - Miasma of Dull Mindedness - Ninagauth’s Freezing Pillar - Ryngrim’s Enervating Terror - Ninagauth’s Freezing Pillar (X2) - Malignant Cloud (X2) - Finish dragon off. Remember that all of these AoE spells should be hitting the dragon and any of his minions that break through. They’ll be a pain. You can also make use of confusion to make this fight even easier. Alpine Dragon (Cave, Longwatch Falls: White March 1) Arguably the hardest fight in the game. After about 50 tries, I finally put the little bastard down without a scratch on me. I pretty much followed Kaylon’s awesome strategy shown here with a few minor changes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBPgwipx3OM As for all of these encounters, you’ll need all pre-fight buffs on you for this fight. Make sure you hit up Dracogen Inn and The Salty Mast. Grab your food buffs right before engaging, and make sure you equip anywhere from 10-15 scrolls of confusion. One full stack of scroll against fear is essential as well. Try not to hit any of the dragon’s minions, you’ll be using them for their weak saves to confuse and distract the dragon. Quickly run to the bottom left corner when the encounter begins. If one of the creatures is on to you, confuse it immediately. If they’re lagging behind and not yet in your view, use the opportunity to thrown a protection from fear scroll on yourself. Accuracy is a must in this fight and the dragon’s terrify aura is as good as being blinded. You’ll need all of your high damage spells to take this guy down. Personally, my 2 “I win” spells are Minoletta’s Precisely Piercing Burst and Ninagauth’s Killing Bolt. They do insane damage and high saves are worthless against them. It’s important to understand however, that Ninagauth’s Killing Bolt will constantly miss unless you are immune to terrify (scroll), have an accuracy buff (Eldritch Aim/Flask of War Paint), and the dragon is debuffed (Miasma of Dull Mindedness). So remember that in between confusing the minions to distract the dragon, make sure all buffs and debuffs are up. Keep confusing to buy yourself time to cast if they aren’t. It helps a lot if the dragon itself is confused. When the dragon is friendly, you can hit it with Ninagauth’s Killing Bolt. When it isn’t friendly, run up behind it while it’s attacking its own confused minions and spam your Minoletta’s. Use “Scalebreaker” at your own discretion. When it dies, clean up the surviving trash mobs and claim victory! Concelhaut (Cragholdt Bluffs: White March 1) One of my favorite quests in the game, Cragholdt Castle is a really cool zone filled with epic mage battles that are just challenging enough to be fun, but not annoyingly hard. The first thing you’ll have to do is take care of the mercenaries laying siege to the castle. They’re insanely annoying trash mobs that are going to take some patience to deal with. Use your trump card spells like “Minoletta’s Precisely Piercing Burst” and “Kalakoth’s Freezing Rake”. “Confusion” is also your friend here. When you finally reach the castle (a much more lax atmosphere), you’ll find that the first thing you have to do is knock off Concelhaut’s 4 apprentices. You can also make a deal with them, but I chose to slaughter them all. The fights are fun and fairly easy, be sure to make use of the amazingly convenient doorways. The vithrak apprentice is a bit of a pain, but you shouldn’t have too much trouble. Eventually you’ll reach the liche lord Concelhaut, archmage of Cragholdt. The good news is you’ll pound him one on one, the bad news is he has a hefty little undead army with him. Make sure you’re fully buffed as opening the door to his quarters will make you fatigued. You might as well run back to Dyrwood Village and Ondra’s gift to get your bonuses before you walk in. Try to lure out Concelhaut’s minions before engaging the mage himself. It’s important to take out that nasty death guard separately. If you get him and Concelhaut together, your chances of survival are low. Once you lure out and kill the death guard, you can safely engage the rest of them (although luring out and killing as many as you can is recommended). Cast your buffs, make sure you’re immune to fear, and spam “Kalakoth’s Freezing Rake” to clear the minions. Concelhaut himself is immune to ice, so as soon as you kill the minions; buff your accuracy, try to “Miasma” him, and spam your “Minoletta’s Precisely Piercing Burst” until he falls. You’ll need to be immune to fear for this whole fight so make sure you’re using scrolls. Llengrath (Mowrghek Ien: White March 2) After taking out Concelhaut, make your way back to Stalwart to finally find out who was behind the siege of his castle. It is none other than the archmage Llengrath. There aren’t many encounters before you fight her, go to the zone that unlocks once you get the quest in Stalwart and make your way to the Northwest of the map. You’ll run into a few packs of her druid minions, you should stomp them fairly easily. They’re way easier than the mercenaries in Cragholdt. Before you enter the forest clearing, make sure you’re fully buffed with food and inn/prostitute bonuses. It’s worth noting that if you give Llengrath Concelhaut’s little Kangaxx head and choose your words right, she’ll let you off with a nice permanent buff to your attributes. To hell with that jazz I say, WE FIGHT! As is impossible to miss, Llengrath is accompanied by 2 young Bog Dragons and one inept druid apprentice. Just like the Concelhaut fight, they’re all manageable on their own but become a nuisance due to the fact that they’re ganging you. As soon as the fight starts, run the far right corner. Buff yourself up while they’re still coming to you. - Bulwark Against The Elements - Llengrath’s Displace Image (How ironic) - Ironskin - Scroll of Prayer Against Fear - Scroll of Defense - Eldritch Aim As soon as all you buffs are up, spam “Kalakoth’s Freezing Rake”. You’ll need to get all 4 of them within the AoE radius. After your third and last rake, Llengrath and her apprentice will be dead. Now for the 2 lizards. These 2 hit pretty hard so you wont survive by just standing your ground and casting. Thankfully, unlike Llengrath, they aren’t immune to paralyze. Whip out a scroll and incapacitate them both. Re-buff your accuracy and “Miasma” them. After that just keep re-paralyzing them before they break free and spam “Minoletta’s Precisely Piercing Burst”. One should survive after the 4th cast, finish him with “Ninagauth’s Killing Bolt”. This fight is actually pretty easy, might take a few tries though. You have now officially destroyed the 2 (formerly) most powerful mages in Dyrwood. You may now proudly proclaim yourself Archmage! Llengrath and Concelhaut’s grimoire contain never before seen exclusive spells that only you will have. They’re amazing, make sure you read through them and try them out. Radiant Spore (Stalwart Mines, Stalwart: White March 2 This one is another doozy. In fact, this entire quest is quite difficult. The cavern you will have to navigate to find this optional boss contains arguably the hardest trash mobs in the game. Massive packs of Vithraks (Obsidian’s answer to D&D’s Mind Flayers) and their slaves will charge at you with a vengeance. Paralyze scrolls work wonders against them, and they’re quite soft so they’ll die with minimal effort. The challenge is pretty much surviving their onslaught and constant stunning. You’ll get the hang of it eventually. Use summons to distract them and use Confusion on the slaves. Eventually you’ll reach this massive annoyance of an encounter. It’s essentially a giant boss level spore (Obsidian’s answer to D&D’s Myconids). Upon engagement, the spore will try to interact with you. Unfortunately you won’t have the constitution or resolve to make this fight easier, so just choose to attack it or you’ll get a debuff. As you might expect, this boss is pretty soft and will die quickly. What makes things incredibly complicated is that it’s tentacles hit like a truck and it’s accompanied by an army of charmed Vithraks. The first thing to do is run to the rightmost part of the screen. You’ll see an area that will block the spore’s line of sight to you allowing you to deal with the vithrak’s first. Spam “Minoletta’s Precisely Piercing Burst” to take care of the vithrak warriors and sporelings. The lone vithrak caster should be easy to deal with using some mid level damage spells like “Malignant Cloud” and Minoletta's Concussive Missiles.. Once you kill the caster and it’s summons, run back behind the cover, heal and buff yourself. A “Scroll of Defense” will help a lot here. Have summons get the spore’s attention, buff your accuracy, debuff the spore with “Miasma”, and slam it with 4 Killing Bolts. If it’s still alive, finish it off with Malignant Cloud or Minoletta's Concussive Missiles and make sure to run back behind the cover to heal if you need to. The Eyeless (Various Areas: White March 2) Technically a trash mob, but insanely difficult if you don’t know how to fight them. They can kill you almost instantly, they’re immune to confuse and blind, and they have a load of hit points. One thing they can’t resist however is our trusty old “Scroll of Paralysis”. Paralyze them before they get off the insta-kill eye laser move. Then just blast them with anything until they’re dead. It only gets tough when you’re fighting 2 or 3 of them at a time. You’ll have to paralyze all of them at once or you’re dead. “Kalakoth’s Freezing Rake” is amazing for these encounters as it does a load of AoE damage and is cast almost instantly. Keep re-paralyzing them before they break out of their current paralysis. If they knock you on your arse you’re pretty much gone. Again, you’ll get the hang of them after a few encounters. The Kraken (Final Boss: White March 2) Ondra’s little pet will be the last thing keeping you from the expansion’s final objective. This is actually one of the easier boss fights in the game, but you’ll be vaporized quickly if you don’t know how to approach it. This thing has a bunch of tentacles that will assist it in trying to kill you. Don’t waste spells on them. If the Kraken dies, they die too. Run right up to the Kraken’s head and spam “Minoletta’s Precisely Piercing Burst”. This encounter would be easy as pie if 2 Eyeless mobs weren’t triggered when the Kraken is at about half-life. Make sure to get a paralyze off to disable the 2 Eyeless before they start hitting. If anything is going to kill you here, it’s going to be them. I actually managed to paralyze them and the Kraken at the same time. Finish off the Kraken first to get he and his tentacles off of you, and then keep re-paralyzing and blasting the 2 Eyeless using my Eyeless strategy above. Overall this fight isn’t that hard, you’ll understand what to do when you’re there. Conclusion I think that pretty much covers it. If anyone thinks of anything else, please do not hesitate to post. I’ll be putting this guide up on the PoE forums as well as Reddit. Thanks again for reading and a really special thanks to everyone who is supporting this genre of gaming. I can’t wait for the next Pillars of Eternity. Take care! - Bathory 2016 Game Version: 3.01

Some tips for monks around here. https://imgur.com/a/Be10JYO Socrates pet, Aldris Blade of Captain Crow and two Rings of Greater regeneration was enough to keep me healed (Dawnstar Blessing). I didn't had to use potions at all, just Second Wind. Set one (Xefa's and Aldris Blade) for Whispers of the Wind and stacking resonance. Set three (Wall on) if I had to wait for her to summon spiders. Boots of Speed for a little bit more stride and Horns of Bleak Mother for accuracy. edit. 412 was enough to blow her up

Hey Guys! I have been looking into strategies for Megabosses and bosses and in particular it seems the most effective thing against them is accuracy and defense stats. Compared to PoE1 it is much harder to stack buffs and debuffs which is generally a better idea I think. What I have been seeing while reading through classes is that there are only a few straight accuracy buffs between classes. Most notable the Ranger has more available class Accuracy buffs than anyone else, upwards of 30 or more not counting active abilities. However, one of the +10 Acc buffs and some other skills are dependent on your animal companion also attacking but based on their stats there is no way to survive against the megabosses. Are there any strategies other than Barring death's door to keep them alive and still get bonuses. I know ghost heart is an option but seems like a waste of bond to have them die over and over again.

I bound the plate then after defeating the _______ and dropping into the __________. I equipped a few regen items and stood in the path of the recurring wind traps (they frighten). Then I went and got a snack, came back to fully leveled guardian's plate. EDIT: I tested applying afflictions using a rogue in the group and it didnt up the count

Hi, I don't post often but I have had some time on my hands and was crunching a little bit of data on cannons and am sharing that here. Please let me know if you have any issues getting to the image. [Attached] (tried to put the link in here but I am not allowed .png or .jpg extensions. I'll read on what I can do some more and see if I can get the image in here). https://drive.google.com/open?id=1eHih8eyfU7Q11i80PUeAk8o2VeihJaFE This is a heatmap for each cannon's damage out to 24 turns. This does assume 100% hits which while that is not how combat usually goes, it does allow you to see the potential of each cannon and have a level field for comparison between them. I do not take range into account here, only optimal damage over time. Also in the folder is the Excel file which has additional data and you can see how I did the calculations (I am sure there is a cleaner way, but I need to put some more thought into it). IMO, when choosing a cannon for your ship you need to take into account how you intend to wage your battles. If you want to get to shooting right away you need to pick a long range cannon like the Iron Thunderer or the Imperial Long Gun. Or, you can brave a rush to close quarters and unleash massive damage with the Magranite Flamethrower. However, be advised that if your ship is slow, or has no hull upgrades you may find yourself in Ondra's cold embrace. I think there are only a few "bad" choices here, again use tactics that optimize your cannon's potential. The Aedyr Channel Gun to me is one of the worse choices, if you want long range cannons get the Imperial Long Gun rather. Observations I and others have made: If you are going to board keep an eye on the number of crew the opposing ship has. Use grapeshot to reduce it and time the boarding action when this number is small. I find that having shorter ranged cannon is advantageous to this, and that it doesn't seem to matter how powerful the cannon is with grapeshot (unless you hit the sails with it instead of crew). If you find that your chance to hit is low there are two things I know can improve it. Hold for one turn prior to firing. And, make sure the range is between the minimum and maximum range listed for your cannon(s). Oh, also the skill level of your cannoneer is key. Choose a cannon that matches the jibe speed of your ship, remember the reload you are measuring is between your first shot and the hold prior to shooting "that" broadside again. If you are up against a much higher level captain or a crew too big to overcome in a boarding action use chain shot to immobilize the ship, then you can either escape or use cannon balls to sink them. Fast ships, like the Defiant and Voyager, are harder to hit and can both close for a boarding action faster and, if needed, have a better chance to flee the engagement. The Voyager's unique front/rear cannon allows you to keep a slim profile while taking out the enemies sails and/or crew. more to come... Thanks for your contributions! 1TTFFSSE Kaylon thundercheese Oriz I hope you find this useful. And, I am happy to respond to any questions or receive any comments or constructive criticism. -Toadbat Edit Log: 8/2/2018 - Updated title; cleaned up some grammar; attached heatmap; added additional observations and credits

Auto-pause on low health, and all Low health AI works even when health is hidden to you, the player. (Just make sure your second wind/potion action is #1 on your list and you make the AI follow list order). You're welcome.

A great tactic has been found. If you use cracking bolt and rolling flame from a long distance, the enemy will not notice the party, which in turn means endless spells. This method allows you to destroy almost any encounter or lure enemies one by one increasing or decreasing the distance. Also, since the spells are power level 2-3, This strategy can be effectively used by any wiz-multiclasses, making the strategy a great way to complete solo PoTD. If you a smart wizard, you should practice sniping. Also, if an enemy encounter contains healers trying to kill someone is pretty useless unless you can kill mob with one blow, but in this case, such exploits are simply not needed. Still great for luring.

So I am really digging this more offensive minded setup for Pallegina. I balanced her Item distribution abilities and talents that she is very good in a lot of areas and has LOTS of per encounter abilities which are nice and is very good at against both mob groups and tough single targets. *granted I also run an additional skaen priest in the party most of the time so he and she sort of mix ^ mash and balance out the healing and buffing needs of the party and can switch offence + defense to boot as skaen priests are very good on offense as well, but with the priest I do not need to give healing talents to Pallegina and instead can bolster her offensive prowess. talents. *at lvl 12 currently intense flames weapon and shield style scion of flame aspirant's mark vulnerable attack wrath of the five suns (or vielo vidorio) note: if you take vielo vidorio do so right at the start as your first or second talent, its great for the whole party. I personally had it for most of the game but now respeced for wrath of the five suns since I want to concentrate her fire powess, and since at this point the characters who need haste can generate it themselves.. items: neck: amulet of the summer solstice grants sunbeam 3 per rest (normal), cloak of comfort (equip it in really tough battles for extra defense) armor: ryonas breastplate rings: deflection + protection gloves: bracers of all consuming rage belt: girdle of the driving wave (grants knockdown 1 per encounter) weapon 1 : the best arquebus you can get (for FoD opening shot) weapon 2 : the flames of fair rhian + outworn buckler (both made suberb if possible) 3 more fireballs per rest Once I get sacred immolation I will probably go drawn in spring or unlabored blade and drop the arquebus, the sabre with the 3 fireballs per rest (flames of fair rhian) is too good on this build. aspirants mark (lowers reflex) + 3 fireballs in a tough fight with the scion of flame talent is pretty awesome. In general I find this build for Pallegina is pretty awesome. She has GREAT! offensive tools for any situation 1 per encounter with these items and talents: debuff a group = aspirants mark and fireballs on their faces if they are a tough mob. boss? no problem = sworn enemy and it gets hit for massive damage with wrath of the five suns. annoying mage? = knockdown his ass. then she can get 3 sunbeam per rest and 3 fireball per rest, not too shabby. I also use scrolls of burst of summer flame in one item slot to should I need to burst damage a group of enemies. by choosing zealous focus and aspirants mark I can skip weapon focus since I am buffing the whole parties accuracy and debuffing the enemies deflection. Talent points sparred at more effective talents! More bang for the buck I would say.

I had a lot of fun using the Tall Grass pike in PoE (https://pillarsofeternity.gamepedia.com/Tall_Grass), building a barbarian for max crit potential and watching groups of enemies knocked prone for the whole fight. I'm hoping I can do something similar in Deadfire. What controlling weapons have you found so far?

Difficulty: PotD Best Team Role: Crowd Control and off-tank dps Team based or solo (if emphasizing defensive talents first) This is more a party based guide and I have played this build in a party but it seems strong enough to solo with a few adjustments. Introduction: The wizard is one of the most versatile classes in PoE, being able to adjust himself or herself on the fly to do whatever is necessary to help the whole party succeed in any hairy battle situation. This guide is aimed at suggesting a wizard build strong across multiple functions (cc, disruption, interrupt, one-on-one melee duelist), no glass noodle, a team-player first and foremost, yet a badass who can in a cinch pull victory from the jaws of defeat should the team be almost overwhelmed, and do so with style to boot . Some of these suggestions for talents etc in this guide will no doubt be familiar to veteran wizard players, and I also have to say my choices for equipment, armor etc, have been done to fit the overall concept of the archetypal in my mind battlemage), to match the overall package. But without further ado, enter the Royal Court Wizard, veritable jack of many trades, and perhaps even master of one or two. Race: Human, it is good for the might bonus and the overall theme of this character is to be best when the battle gets tough so the racial bonus is good. A case can be made for Fire or Moon Godlike but they have to helm and I find that is a bigger con to the needs of this purticular character than their racials. Coastal aumaua can be considered too but that would be a "Court Djinn" Background: Living Lands (Might bonus), noble or mercenary. Stats: Might: Max it Con: 6 Dex: flat Perception: max it Int: Max it (but you want to buff might and perception more) Resolve: 6 Talents: ! = principle to the concept of the class, R = Very Highly recommended O= Optional but good choices In general order I would take them: Arcane Veil ! your bread and butter defensive ability, essential first line of defense especially as you will be spending a lot of time in melee Blast R (team) / Fast Runner ! (if solo) blast - mainly taken for the extra interrupts and any on hit effects from scepter rods and wands Penetrating Blast R/O (team) / Hardened Veil ! if solo! boosting damage a bit from blast does not hurt and your high might takes care of the rest, at range you will cast cc spells mainly anyways and do actual weapon damage in melee anyways this is the most optional of the early talents. Interrupting Blows ! essential talent as you want to be a great interrupter it helps your team when you attack at range and you when you zone in on an enemy in melee, it also comes at the time you get lvl 3 spells and delirious alactricy of motion. Scion of Flame / or Secrets of Rime ! (Choose one at least - Flame if you go more melee, rime if you stick in the back ranks more) fire is good in melee because of firebrand + flame shield, fan of flames and the occasional fireball opener. ice is good because the strongest damage + cc spells at range are ice. all the ninigauth spells basically. Vulnerable Attack R at this point you can start to make your melee attack more devastating if you like those rapiers which you should Two Weapon Style R greater attack speed when dual wielding rapiers Weapon Focus: Noble R you can get accuracy from other sources like eldridge aim, it is nice but I personally take: Hardened Veil O basically means you will only be grazed even at higher levels when this is active which combined from the dr on your armor is quite sufficient Savage Attack O Apprentice Sneak Attack O / Savage attack and Baby SA can be skipped if going more tanky you can take superior deflection I guess and cautious attack. I prefer the "melee" variant in first line here - the concept of this build is to be very competent mob cc, but also be able to dual against the mob boss leaders. Spell Mastery: Level 1: Slicken (cc this good too good to pass up) Level 2: Combusting wounds Level 3: DAoM is probably best although if you think you can just use potions of it you can maybe take Fireball Level 4: Flame Shield or Pull of Eora or Ninigauth Shadowflame (especially on distant rime build) Equipment: Helm: Azalin's Helm Armor: Osric's Family Breastplate (Durgan refined) Gloves: Pilferer's Grip or Forgemaster's Gloves, Ryonas Vambraces Boots: Glanfathan Stalking Boots Rings: Ring of searing flames, ring of deflection, ring of protection are all good generally Belt: Girdle of mortal protection Neck: Liliths Shawl Note this is mid game: I am sure there are some more awesome items before or after depending on how you progress through the game. You want to boost perception, might, and Int. Weapon 1: Gyrd Haewanes Stenas (you get it early, it's great, has super accuracy so what's not to like, and looks good and "fits" (domination chance) on the character!) Weapon 2: Vierina's Leaves + Spelltongue or Sword of Dyonisos + Spelltongue. They are already great without durgan I am sure they would be awesome with it. But it is not necessary to durganize them. potions: regen, llengrath's di or bulwark depending on fight type, spirit shield or paralysis scrolls, figurine How she behaves on the battlefield: generally starts in the back ranks and cc's / disrupts enemies and conserves some of her strength, but if the situation calls for she buffs herself up with alactricy, flame shield, vital essence, arcane veil, martial prowess, switches to dual rapiers and stun interrupts a troublesome target like a battery siren or a brood mother. She dueled against battery sirens and brood mothers for me just fine that way on Potd and I would not consider my skills good enough for solo at this game yet. I am sure in expert hands she would be even more fearsome. I like the breast plate because it fits the "noble court wizard" theme. With pilferer's grip and durgan it is as light as cloth (15% recovery penalty) hella sturdy, has second chance even, and looks awesome. You can have zero recovery with robes but this is not really a "robe" wizard in my mind. Current Grimoire: Totally Badass: Edit: looking at the grimoire again, I will replace kolakoth minor blights with pull of eora though both are really but this wizard just goes into melee should spells be low 85% of the time so kolakoth mb is not really needed.

This dude took about 15 tries before I realised the main thing stopping me from killing him was the accuracy debuff Eder - full deflection tank, away from main party, lots of endurance potions. need: massive buffs to accuracy and immunity to paralysis and stun (thanks Durance you crazy old coot) Get Eder to attack an ice blight and turn off his AI. keep him alive as long as possible (armor with 2nd chance can help). DO NOT ATTACK THE DRAGON kill off as many stray ice blights and oozes as possible without getting too close to the dragon (their damage is not that important) get Eder to attack the dragon. a butt load of wraiths and spectres will appear. destroy them with your mad buffs and what not. prayer against paralysis is a huge help here. hopefully Eder is still alive. take some time to rebuff your accuracy and might (prayer against fear doesnt seem to help too much as the dubuff is reapplied instantly) smash dragon as fast as humanly possible and pray to Berath. keep him paralysed, petrified, stunned as much as possible (gaze of adragan, chaos orb, scrolls of paralysis) THEN I realised scrolls of paralysis are craft-able, spam those as much as possible when you're going for the dragon kill, easy mode. then I was sad cos I realised I wasted 8 hours of my life NOT crafting these scrolls.

The Pathfinder Adventure Card Game page on Paizo's site had an interesting strategy blog you can check out! http://paizo.com/paizo/blog/v5748dyo5lj3k?Get-Ready-to-be-Goblified Cheers!

So I just started playing and decided to buy the all-inclusive expansion. I'm stuck on the Poison Pill scenario and I feel like I don't have the right feel for the strategy. I've tried having one character on their own locations, pairing them off, putting them in groups of 3, and having all 6 start on the same location. It also could just be the characters, so I listed my party and their decks below. I also know that the number of cards to beat in the scenario changes based on your party size, so would it be easier if I didn't use 6 characters? What can I change to beat this scenario? Merisriel Amiri Deathbane Light Crossbow+1 Glaive Shock Longbow+1 Longspear Leather Armor Flaming Mace+1 Caltropsx2 Warhammer Masterwork Tools Longsword+1 Spyglass Rusted Chainmail Thieve's Toolsx2 Wooden Sheild Burglar Bracers of Protection Shalelu Andosana Crowbar Blessing of Calistra Guide Blessing of Erastilx2 Standard Bearer Blessing of the Gods Blessing of Toragx2 Blessing of Gorum Blessing of the Gods Seoni Kyra Force Missilex2 Quarterstaff Acid Arrow Mace Spyglass Cure Token of Remembrance Detect Evil Amulet of Life Holy Light Acolytex2 Wooden Shield Father Zantus Magic Chainmail Sheriff Hemlock Holy Water Blessing of the Godsx3 Sage Blessing of Iomedaex2 Blessing of Shelynx3 Blessing of Desna Blessing of Pharasma Blessing of the Gods Lini Seelah Curex2 Mace Inflict Glaive Detect Magic Longsword Sanctuary Cure Strength Chain Mail Amulet of Mighty Fists Superior Half-Plate Sage's Journal Wooden Shield Dogx2 Poog of Zarongel Crow Night Watch Blessing of the Godsx4 Blessing of the Godsx3 Blessing of Gorum Blessing of Sarenrae Blessing of Desna

I've just completed my TCS Speedrun (2:18h, No Glitches), so I thought I would share the build I have used. It's reliable, but not without risks. If you want to reproduce the run, I would suggest studying my video. There is also quite a bit of additional information on my strategies in the video description: Pillars of Eternity - TCS Speedrun (2:18h, No Glitches, Solo, Highest Difficulty, Triple Crown) https://youtu.be/ZtGppK4gWkE (I've just realized that I got the Relative Pacifism achievement for the run, so fewer than 175 NPCs and Creatures are killed!) Concept Push for max. Stealth and compensate Mechanics with the Gloves of Manipulation. The Stealth allows for early completion of Heritage Hill and Cliaban Rilag, opening up high XP Quests in Twin Elms. The final char level is 10, and while Deathblows at level 11 would make the final battle so much easier, its just taking too much time to reach. If you want to make sure the final battle goes right 99% of the time, you can ditch the "Speedrun" part of the build, and just do a few more side-quests before facing Thaos. Build - Moon Godlike, Rogue, Old Vailia, Dissident - Stat distribution: 18 3 18 3 17 18 Abilities - Crippling Strike, Reckless Assault, Blinding Strike, Finishing Blow, Dirty Fighting Talents - Two-Weapon-Style, Shadowing Beyond, Quick Item Slots, Weapon Focus: Soldier, Savage Attack Talent Rewards - The Merciless Hand (+0.3 Crit Multiplier) - Dungeon Delver (+0.1 Crit Multiplier) - Blooded Hunter (+1 Stealth) Skills - Stealth 10, Mechanics 4, Lore 2, Survival 4 Endgame Items - Godansthunyr (Stun on Crit, +Exceptional, +Vessel) - We Toki (Prone on Crit, Exceptional, +Burning Lash, +Vessel) - Aru-Brekr (Movement Speed Increase, +Exceptional, +Might 2, +Crush Proof) - Shod in Faith (Endurance Healing Aura on getting critted) - Rotfinger Gloves (AoE DoT's and Spells to enable Sneak Attacks) - Blunting Belt (More Protection!) - Amulet of Health (More Endurance!!) - Ring of Searing Flames (Good damage buff in the early game, also useful for final battle) - Ring of Unshackling (To negate debuffs in the final battle) Feel free to ask questions or to leave suggestions for improvements.

This build is a solid choice for a TCS run and has been thoroughly tested by me. I'm sure quite a few people have come up with something similar by now, but my recorded TCS run might serve as a nice basic strategy guide for people wanting to use this build for a run of their own. Here is the playlist of my run: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrU0fsUmH2FaASxfjRn9medY4YyQQOZZZ And here is a video about dealing with Thaos: https://youtu.be/ynynYV2IJjs Build Moon Godlike, Rogue, Deadfire, Merchant Stat distribution: 18 3 17 3 18 18 Abilities - Crippling Strike, Reckless Assault, Blinding Strike, Dirty Fighting, Withering Strike, Deathblows Talents - Dual Wielding, Shadowing Beyond, Deflecting Assault, Vicious Fighting, Bloody Slaughter, Quick Item Slots Talent Rewards - The Merciless Hand (Doemenel route) - Dungeon Delver (Twin Elms, Girl in the inn, Help the adventurers) Skills - Stealth 5 (Required to sneak past Caed Nua throne room Spectres), Lore 10 (8 if you find Glanfathan Adraswen), Mechanics 7 (Requires two or three +1 inn rests throughout the game), Spare points into Survival. Very important items - Shod in Faith (Smith, Knights Castle in Defiance Bay) - Rotfinger Gloves (Merchant, Ondra's Gift) - Minion summoning figurines Good items to have - Azureith's Stiletto (Smith, Gilded Vale) - Gaun's Share (Temple of Eothas, Gilded Vale, Dangerious to get early on) - Äru-Brekr (Looted from the group trying to steal the Foge Knight research papers) - Blunting Belt (Smith, Gilded Vale) - Ring of Protection (Random loot, Merchant in Copperlane) - Ring of Deflection (Random loot, Merchant in Copperlane) - Glanfathan Adraswen (Random loot) Endgame weapons - Starcaller (Market, Hearthsong) - We Toki (Larha in Galawain's Maw, Oldsong)

I used scientific method in reaching this conclusion. Anyone can replicate my results. 1. Go to the outrageously outdated wiki: http://pillarsofeternity.gamepedia.com/Status_Effects 2. Press "CTRL-F" and type "reflex" 3. Press the "Highlight All" button in the bottom left corner of Firefox window. You will note that there are many more Reflex debuffs than Will and Fortitude ones. Fortitude and WIll ones tend to come on the same effects - Charmed, Sickened, Weakened. Sagani can use Wounding Arrow to inflict Hobbled, which reduces Reflex and makes the target susceptible to Binding Roots. She can also use Stunning Arrows. Hiravius can use Sunbeam, which blinds and further reduces Reflex. There ARE some spells which target mental stats in a sneaky way, for example Miasma of Dullmindness simply drains -10 from three stats.

A game I am not playing right now is Civ - Beyond Earth. I own Civ 5, and have just sat through a couple of video reviews on Youtube. The reason I am making the post is not just to give a space to discuss it, but because I think Firaxis have been making two key mistakes in recent years. Although no doubt you'll all have your own reactions. 1. Combat 'balance' The combat system is still trying far too to be balanced. I've given this quite a bit of thought and believe that you cannot have combat with a consistent rule base, and make every faction equally capable, yet different. war in the real world rewards certain behaviours; you can't just ignore that. But in Civ everyone gets an equal 'shout', because multiplayer. Which is just foolish. 2. Passion I didn't get the impression with either Civ 5 or this game that it had been made with passion. There were no little curlicues of design excitement scattered around. You DO see this in - for example - Alpha Centauri's voiceovers. I don't know what causes this, but suggest that it's probably game project management being _too_ professional. "No, Anil, you can't add in a cool widget, because that's not what the agreed design spec is, and I need to come in on budget and on time." But the pint for me is that a civ game eats _hundreds_ of hours of my life. I don't want a carefully prepackaged boring suare brown box. I want something that's known a little love and excitement.

https://www.humblebundle.com/doublefine Everyone needs to vote for Mega Ninja Troopers. Especially if you live in the Bay Area. Don't even bother paying for more Pen Ward's games. Great writer, but that's what he should stick with.

Discuss the merits, tactics, and achievements of notable military generals in history. I'll start. William Tecumseh Sherman (1820-1891) Major General William Tecumseh Sherman was Grant's most trusted Lieutenant during the American Civil War. He is best known for his March to the Sea (also known as the Savanna Campaign), from Atlanta, Georgia to Savannah, Georgia which effectively broke the backs of the Confederacy. He is widely recognized as the single most instrumental man to ending the war. Sherman is a polarizing figure. Depending on where in the US you live he is either hailed as a hero and brilliant strategist or villainized for his brutal tactics (Scorched Earth). Those in favor tend to state that his harsh strategy brought the war to a close far quicker than had he not employed scorched earth tactics (almost certainly true) and that thousands more would have died had the war dragged on (almost certainly true). Those opposed state that his inhumane methods hurt civilians (true) and caused massive amounts of damage that took decades to recover from (definitely true).

Hello everyone, So i got hunger for some rpg when waiting for P:E. And then I realise I actualy never complete any campaign in NWN 2. And before I start I would like to hear some suggestion on how to play it. Are there some good mods which are not overpowered? For example ranger is my favorite class but he quite suck in original NWN2 as far as I remember (but i didnt complete game because some bug). Also what party you recommend for SoZ? I remember that I die quite quickly in SoZ. Any tips or hints are welcome. peace Dude

I have played quite a few cRPGs and have seen this implemented on a limited scale. If my memory serves me, in NWN HOTU and NWN2 Cross Roads keep, we were given a chance to partake in a relatively massive battle with all our companions and other NPCs aligned to us against the enemies. I was hoping that we could see more of these set pieces implemented in Project Eternity. By strategic battles, I mean typically the following: 1. A mid-scale conflict, typically between major factions which will have significant repercussions in gameplay depending on which factions win. 2. The PC and his companions will typically play a pivotal role in the battle. However, since this is a large scale battle, they will only see part of the action depending on what role they want to take. 3. There should be a relatively large amount of fighting between NPCs, probably 30 or more to simulate a mid-scale conflict. A simple example would be storming an powerful enemy stronghold. Instead of the typical adventure where the PC and his companions unbelievably waltz in and commits whole scale massacre of enemy NPCs without blinking, the quest could take the form of: 1. Gathering allies by convincing various faction leaders to volunteer their men towards storming the enemy stronghold. 2. Depending on the attributes of the PC: (a) A PC with high leadership and charisma could take strategic leadership of battle by determining the types of tactics and strategy to be used to strom the stronghold; (b) A PC with thief-like abilities could volunteer to infiltrate the enemy stronghold, scout enemy placements, perform sabotage and open the enemy gates at the appointed time. (c ) A PC with magic skills could summon immensely powerful spells i.e. meteor storms etc..from afar (d) A PC fighter could volunteer as the vanguard and charge the enemy gates. 3. During the battle, the PC may have to work closely with his allies to minimize losses rather than going in all gung-ho. He might have to revise his tactics and/or strategy to ensure the enemy leader does not escape. The enemy may have set traps/ambushes/spells of his own and the PC has to turn the tide of battle, so to speak. One of my pet peeves when playing DA:O was realizing that the PC had no chance to join in the Battle of Ostagar. What a bummer! It would have been fun to wade into battle with my PC and his companions in a free-for-all brawl.